574 



jVA TURK 



[OCTOIJEK 15, 1S96 



spark thai it was at a great distance from me. This flash lasted 

 for a longer time than any one I have seen since. I happened 

 to lie gazing at the actual spot when the flash occurred, and I 

 saw it well. 



The only explanation I can offer is this : that the spectator is 

 looking along the axis of a spiral-shapud flash : the flash 

 occurring from cloud to cloud. Bi;nja.\iin Daviks. 



Liverpool, October 3. 



Distribution of Galeodes. 



It seenu hardly worth while my interfering in this matter, but 

 as Mr. Pocock, in his note on the distribution of Galeodes, in 

 Nai'URE of August 20, omits Siud, I hasten to record it from 

 that province, where I have often dug it out of Indus alluvium. 

 I used to think that Galeodes was a desert animal, ami was 

 surprised to hear from friends that it is common along the 

 Malabar coast south of Bombay and further inland, where the 

 rainfall is heavy. F. Gi.eadow. 



Dehra Dun, September 14. 



THE RECENT EARTHQUAKES IN ICELAND 

 f~\^ August 26, at 10.30 p.m. and next day, at 9.15 

 ^-^ a.m., severe earthquake shocks were felt throughout 

 the south-western part of Iceland. The seismic focus 

 seems to have been situated in the neighbourhood of the 

 volcanic ridge out of which Hekla rises, and the waves 

 moved in a direction which they had formerly been ob- 

 served to take, namely from north-east to south-west. 

 According to reports to hand, these shocks were felt as 

 far north-west as Tsafjord and as far north as the head 

 of Skagafjord. Thus it appears they overran an area of 

 more than 20,000 square miles, or half the island, for 

 they also caused dam.age in the Westman Islands, which 

 lie further south than the most southern point of Iceland. 

 Even at sea the shock was felt. A sailing ship was so 

 badly shaken, thirty-five tniles from land, that the crew 

 feared it had struck a rock, and began to lower the 

 boats. 



From this it is clear that these earthquakes spread 

 their waves over an area unprecedented in extent in the 

 history of the island. 



After some minor and slighter shocks, the next severe 

 ones occurred on .September 5, at 1 1.30 p.m., and two and 

 a half hours later, in the night, at 2 o'clock. These 

 shocks were fully as violent as the first ones, but they 

 were more local, and the seismic centre from which they 

 proceeded seemed to be further to the south-west than in 

 August. The shocks w-ere preceded by heavy rumbling 

 noises underground. Land-slides came down from the 

 mountain-sides, destroying the green home pastures. 

 Immense rocks were hurled down from their peaks, and 

 the echoes of these convulsions of nature reverberated 

 among the mountains. The turf and stone w^alls of the 

 Icelandic farmhouses crumbled like card houses, but the 

 people, being warned by the 1 1.30 shock, saved their lives 

 through doors and windows. While many were bruised 

 and wounded, and some were dug out of the ruins, only 

 two are reported to have been killed. In the .August 

 shocks one man was killed in the Westman Islands, 

 being crushed by a rock that tumbled down over a 

 precipice. 



While it is calculated that two to three hundred home- 

 steads, each representing five to six houses, have been 

 wholly or partially destroyed, it is singular to note that 

 no timber house has fallen down, though some of them 

 were actually moved out of their position. The in- 

 habitants have since September 5 camped out, as best 

 they could, in improvised tents and huts. 



The violent vibrations in the crust of the earth have 

 torn it open in places. Deep chasms yawn where the 

 ground has been burst open, and a number of fissures 

 have been formed. The largest of these is situated close 

 by the Oelvus River, on its western bank. It is about 



NO. 1407, VOL. 54] 



six miles in length, but neither very broad nor deep, and 

 half-filled with water. 



Still more noteworthy than these longitudinal cracks 

 in the ground are the new geysers, which have forced 

 their way into the open. Some of the old hot springs 

 have disajipeared, and been displaced along with the 

 stratum through which they issued. Of the new geysers, 

 information has been gathered about tlirec at the farm 

 Hveragerthi, west of the Oelvus Ri\er, and one at 

 Reykir. The largest of those at Hveragerthi has a basin 

 measuring fifty-four feet by twenty-four feet. Its depth 

 has not been ascertained. The column of boiling water 

 rose at first thirty to forty feet into the air : but, accord- 

 ing to the latest reports, its height is decreasing. The 

 people of the two farms say that the crash, when the 

 column of water first broke the earth crust open, was 

 terrific and deafening. 



Many other changes took place in the surface of the 

 ground. High ground subsided, and became wet in- 

 stead of dry. Low, miry ground became hard. In brooks 

 and lakelets the water grew yellow and turbid. In fact, 

 the whole appearance of the districts affected by these 

 earthquakes has undergone a noticeable transformation. 

 The intensity of the vibrations caused by the shocks 

 was greatest in the neighbourhood of the Oelvus River. 

 Persons standing on level ground could not keep their 

 feet. A farmer was literally thrown out of his bed on to 

 the floor. The duration of each shock was from thirty 

 to fifty seconds ; in some cases less, but none of them 

 seem to have lasted a whole minute, though the time 

 appeared to be much longer than that to the frightened 

 farm people waiting in anxious suspense for the fate of 

 their houses. 



No earthquakes comparable to these have occurred 

 in Iceland, save in 1784. The severest shocks then took 

 place on August 14 and 16, but were confined to a much 

 more restricted area than the present ones, an area 

 reaching farther north-east and less south-west than in 

 1896. These earthquakes lasted from the middle of 

 August till December of the same year, and caused great 

 damage to farmhouses, si.xty-nine of which were totally 

 broken down, while 372 were made almost uninhabitable. 

 These earthquakes must, it is thought, have stood in some 

 connection with the volcanic eruptions close to the 

 glacier-covered volcano Skaptarjokul, which lasted on, 

 with short breaks, from June 1783 to January 1784. The 

 Icelanders draw the inference that earthquakes must be 

 preceded, accompanied, or followed by eruptions. One 

 glance at Thoroddsen's history of eruptions and earth- 

 quakes suffices, how-ever, to disprove this popular fallacy. 

 It is feared that the earthquakes will continue for months, 

 unless the subterraneous fire breaks out and puts an end 

 to them. One hears the natives earnestly wishing for an 

 eruption ("cldgos," i.e. fire-spouting). Meanwhile they 

 have saved all their cattle, with few exceptions, and wish 

 to rebuild their farms. 



The last news from Iceland is of date September 19. 

 Slight shocks were felt from time to time. The severest 

 of these was one on .September to, at 11.20 a.m. New 

 fissures appeared in the ground, while some of those 

 already formed were widened. Strange subterraneous 

 noises resembling thunder have been heard, sometimes 

 unaccompanied by shocks. To all appearances the earth- 

 quakes are not over yet, though it is to be hoped, for the 

 sake of the suffering people in the districts of Rangarvalla 

 and Arnes-sysla, that the worst is past. 



Some money has been subscribed, and the Government 

 will contribute to the funds thus raised. The Czar has 

 given .£160, the Dowager Empress of Russia /^loo, and 

 the King of Denmark and his family the same amount. 

 The sympathy of Europe has been aroused for the brave 

 people struggling for their existence amid frost and fire 

 on the verge of the habitable world. 



It has been stated that there are over 700 e.xtinct craters 



